Barbara Warter and her three boys Ryan, Zachary and Jake (14, 11 and 6) at the bone marrow donor drive on Sunday, December 21.
Nearly 500 volunteers — including members of the Maplewood and South Orange communities — had their mouths swabbed yesterday in a quest to find a bone marrow donor for a 44-year-old Livingston man diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia.
Oren Warter, father of three, was recently diagnosed with Acute Myologenous Leukemia (AML) and is currently undergoing intense chemotherapy to stabilize his body. The drive was held at Temple Bnai Abraham in Livingston NJ.
The drive — “Warter Strong” — registered potential bone marrow donors on behalf of the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation to help Warter and many others.
The family sent a letter this morning to thank the community:
What a day!! This group was amazing from beginning to end and thanks to everyone … we came together on behalf of the Warter Family.
What a miracle to say that so far we have raised $42,000 and we swabbed close to 500 people today. The event was bigger than any of us first imagined.
Next step is the reason for today … to process all of the kits and find a match for Oren and others who are also in need.
Thanks to each of you … from all of those that were involved in making this happen.
Wishing everyone a Healthy and Happy New Year!!
